Transportable elevator.



B. P. SEYMOUR. TRANSPORTABL'E ELEVATOR.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 2, 1908.

Patented Jan.11,1910.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

INVENTOR. .3 .F Se gm 21?" WITNESSES:

B. F. SEYMOUR. TRANSPORTABLE ELEVATOR. APPLICATION FILED APR. 2, 1908.946,403, Patented Jan. 11, 1910.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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n c. ANDREW B. GRAHAM 00.. Pmaumucmmzks, wAsmuu'mn.

B. P. SEYMOUR. TRAN SPORTABLE ELEVATOR.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 2, 1908.

946,403, 1 Pateflted Jan.11,1910.

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WITNESSES: IN VEN TOR.

fi m- L565 mozzr B. E. SEYMOUR.

TRANSPORTABLE ELEVATOR.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 2, 1908.

946,403, Patented Jan. 11,1910.

I 4 BHEET8-SHEET 4.

WITNESSES: IN VEN TOR.

W ideymour ATTORNEY.

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UNTTED STATES FATENT @FFTQE.

BENJAMIN F. SEYMOUR, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

TRANSPOBTABLE ELEVATOR.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN F. SEX: NCUR, a citizen of the UnitedStates oi America, residing at Denver, in the county of Denver and Stateof Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in TransJOIiilblG Elevators, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a transportable elevator particularly adaptedfor use of tire companies and its object is to provide a collapsiblemast or shaft mounted upon a wheeled carriage and a cage or carrierwhich by simple means may be propelled alrng the said mast for thepurpose of conveying men and extinguishing appliances to differentheights so as to enable the former to successfully and safely combat theflames in case of a contlagration in a high building or other structure.The invention is furthermore adapted for use on vessels where a mast isemployed merely as a substitute for mechanical means of propulsion, onwar ships to elevate the turrets and in short in any place where it isdesired to reach an elevation without the use of a permanent highstructure.

I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings in the various views of which like parts are similarlydesignated and in which- Figure 1-represents a fragmentary elevation ofthe apparatus with the mast in its extended condition, Fig. 2a fragmeirtary plan view of the carriage, Fig. 3-an enlarged, partly sectionalfragmentary elevation of the telescopic mast and the sup portingelement, Fig. ta side elevation of the latter looking in the directionof the arrow, Fig. 8, Fig. 5a top view of the uppermost portion of themast, Fig. 6a section along a line 6-6, Fig. 5, Fig. 7an enlargedfragmentary, partly sectional elevation of the mast, Fig. 8a plan Viewof the cage or carrier, Fig. 9-a side elevation of the upper portionthereof, Fig. 10a trans verse sectional view of the sections comprisedin the mast, Fig. 11 an enlarged elevation of the nut employed inimpelling the cage, Fig. 12a section along a line 1212, Fig. 11, Fig.13-a fragmentary section similar to Fig. 12 with the nut in itsSpecification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 2, 1908.

Patented Jan. 11, 1910.

Serial No. 424,780.

unlocked condition, Fig. 14a horizontal section taken along a line14-1-l, Fig. 3, Fig. 15-an enlarged sec ional view of the annular memberemployed to hold the movable sections of the mast against rotation, andFig. l6a fragmentary section taken along a line 16-16, Fig. 15.

The apparatus as illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings comprises awheeled carriage 5 upon the forward portion of which the extendible mastor shaft 6 is pivotally mounted. A chair 7 upon the rear portion of thecarriage serves as a support for the mast when recumbent, and an engineor motor 8 positioned intermediate the chair and the foot of the mast,is employed to impart a rotary movement to the latter to impel thesurrounding cage or carrier 9. i

The mast 6 is composed of a plurality of telescopic, tubular members,the lower one 16 of which acts as a base or support for the others andis rotatably supported in a step 10 upon the carriage 5 thrtughinstrumentality of an interposed element 11 with which it is pivotallyconnected. The element 11 consists of a body portion formed with asurrounding bevel gear 12, a stud shaft 13 which depending from the bodyportion extends into the step 10 and two uprights 1 which cooperativelyprovide a bearing for a transverse shaft 15.

The column 16 of the mast 6 is rigidly connected with the shaft 15 bymeans of a plug 17 which extends into its lower extremity and whoseprojecting bifurcated end surrounds the shaft. The extremities of theshaft 15 projecting beyond the uprights l i, carry peripherally notchedwheels 18 which are adapted to maintain in cooperation with sliding dogs19, the shaft in its upright position or at a selected angle ofinclination.

The shaft as illustrated in the drawings is composed of the hollowsupporting column 16 and three tubular sections 26, 36 and 16, whichbeing telescopically arranged, extend one within another inside thecolumn when the mast is in its contracted condition, illustrated in Fig.3 of the drawings.

The supporting section 16 as well as the eXtendible sections 26, 36 ands6, are formed with peripheral grooves 20 which wind spirally inopposite directions and they leave with the exception of the innermostone, upon their interior surfaces a spiral thread or rib 21 whose pitchequals that of one of the grooves 20.

When the various sections are assembled, the rib 21 of each projectsinto one of the grooves 20 of the adjoining inner one so that, when oneof the sections is rotated and the therewith associated inner one isheld against rotation, the latter will move in or outwardly inaccordance with the direction in which the shaft is rotated.

Each of the sections with the exception of the innermost one arefurthermore formed in proximity to their upper extremities withinterior, annular, angular recesses 23 (see Fig. 7) and excepting thecolumn it are also provided with two or more spring actuated dogs whichbeing normally withdrawn in correspondingly shaped sockets in the lowerend of each section, will project into the recess 23 of the surroundingsection to prevent excessive outward moven'itait of the member of whichthey form part.

The innermost member of the mast which is uppermost when the latter isin its extended condition carries upon its upper, reduced extremity acollar 25 provided with four radial arms which respectively constitutebearings for sheaves 27, the function of which will hereinafter bedescribed.

The cage 9 which in practice is emplcved as a carrier for the men andthe extin. shing appliances commtnly used by fize =::om panics, has inits top and bottom central, circular openings through which the snaft 6projects and is supported upon a cylindrical nut 28 whose function is totran oese the rotary motion of the sln ft into a ver cal movement of thecage and whose construction will now be described. The nut 28 terminatesat its upper end in a flange 29 which extends within the cage and with asubjacent annular groove 30 into which the surrounding portion of thecage floor projects so as to permit the nut to rotate indep ndently ofthe latter. The nut is provitled with transversely extending,diametrically oppcsite sockets 31 which communicate with its bore bymeans of central apertures The sockets 81 are occupied by pistons 33,the heads of which are engaged by spiral springs 34: which force thepistons outwardly beyond the orifices of the respective sockets whentheir heads which normally are 011- gaged by a depressing element arereleased from contact therewith. The element referred to consists of asleeve which encircles the nut and is connected therewith by means ofpins 37 which projecting into vertical slots in the sleeve, permit alimited vertical movement thereof. The sleeve is furthermore formed withslots 38 which extend inwardly in opposite directions from its terminaledges at diametrically opposite t points in alinement with the centersof the sockets 31 in the nut, and which are of suiticient width to admitthe heads of the spring actuated pistons The latter are each formed witha central longitudinal bore in which a spring actuated detent 39, whoseouter extremity projects through the aperture 32, normally into thecorresponding spiral groove 20 in the peripheral surface of the mast 6,has a reciprocating movement.

Vhen the sleeve 35 is in one of its extreme positions upon the nut 28,one of the slots 38 registers with the corresponding socket 31 in thenut, with the result that the therein con fined piston, actuated by thespring 3% moves outwardly, carrying the detent 35) with it out ofengagement with the spiral groove 90, as is shown in Fig. 13 of thedrawings. By returning the sleeve to its original central position(shown in Fig. 12) the said piston is forced inwardly by enga ement ofthe edge of the slot 38 with the outer surface of its head which to thisend is beveled.

The working extremities of the two detents are formed to respectivelycorrespond with the right and left hand peripheral grooves of the mast 6so that. when the latter is rotated and the two detents project in therespective grooves, as in Fig. 12, the nut 28 is locked againstindependent movement, wl ile when the sleeve is adjusted into one of itsextreme positions, the nut, if held against rotation, will travellongitudinally on the shaft in a direction in accordance with that inwhich the groove engaged by the one detent winds.

The detents 39, by reason of their longitudinal adjustment are whentheir respective pistons are withdrawn into the sockets, c:

grooves in the various sections comprised in the mast irrespective ofthe latters diametrical dimension.

To adjust the position of the sleeve from within the cage the former isformed with a peripheral annular depression to provide a seat for acollar 40 which by means of gud geons 41 connects with the bifurcatedextremity of a lever 4-2 (see Fig. 14), which being fulcrumed upon lugwhich depends from the cage, connects at. its opposite end by means of arod tu and a link 44 with an arm elion a rocker shaftto.rotatablymounted in bearings on theinside of the cage, to be operatedby manipulation of a hand-wheel H. The collar to is furthermore providedwith oppositely extending fingers 40 which, whenthe sleeve is in eitherof its extreme positions engages one of two lugs etO which projectlaterally from the circumferential surface of the nut in proximity toits extremities. The latter is, by these means, held against rotationwith the mast, when one of the detents is withdrawn from con pable ofengaging any one of the spiral tact with the groove 20, to compel it tomove longitudinally.

livotally secured upon the upper surface of the cage 9 and upon the nut1 1 at its upper and lower extremities are spring actuated arms 18preferably arranged in series of four, the members in which are placedat quadrant points equidistant from the axis of the shaft. The segmentalheads of the several members stS are, by means of the springs 49 held inconstant engagement with the peripheral surface of the mast section orsections along which the cage 9 travels and cooperatively secure thelatter against lateral deflection.

Rotatably mounted upon the deck of the carriage at quadrant pointsequidistant from the axis of the member 11 are spring actuated drums 50on which are wound ropes or cables 51 which extend upwardly throughapertured lugs 52 on the cage 9, in engagement with guide sheaves 53 andthence pass around the hereinbefore mentioned sheaves 27 on the collar25 which is mounted upon the upper extremity of the mast.

The ends of the ropes which extend downwardly from the sheaves 27 aresecured to an annular element 54 which concentrically surrounds themast, and this element which is positioned a certain distance above thecarrier 9, is connected therewith by a plurality of ropes or cables 55.The ropes 51 and 55, being constantly tensioned by the action of thedrums 50, cooperatively secure the cage against rotation and being woundor unwound as the latter moves up or downwardly along the mast, causethe element 5% to move in unison with the cage.

The various sections comprised in the mast with the exception of thecolumn 16, are formed with equidistant, peripheral, longitudinallyextending grooves 58 and the annulus 51 whose diameter exceeds that ofthe column 16 of the shaft 6, carries at diametrically. opposite pointsreciprocating dogs 56, the oblong heads of which are continuously heldin en agement with opposite grooves in the sections, by action ofsprings 57. The sides of the various grooves 58 are made flaring at theupper extremities of the sections of the mast to facilitate the entranceof the dogs 56 during the downward movement of the cage.

The distance between the element 5% and the upper end of the cage issuch that when the latter is positioned at the lowermost portion of oneof the sections, the dogs in the fcrmer engage the upper extremity ofthe adjacent inner section which when the sections are in theircontracted positions, protrudes beyond the orifice of the surroundingone. It will thus be observed that while the cage travels along one ofthe sections of the shaft, impelled by the latters rotative motion, thedogs 56 projecting into two of the l l l l longitudinal grooves of theadjacent inner section, hold the latter against rotation with the resultthat by the cooperative connection between the spiral rib 21 of theouter section and the corresponding grooves 20 in the inner one, thelatter will move longitudinally in relation to the surrounding one.\Vhile the device is being conveyed to the place of operation, thecollapsed mast is supported chair 7 as is shown in broken lines in Fig.1.

To prepare the apparatus for action, the mast is moved about its pivotalaxis to a selected angle of inclination and secured in an uprightposition by means of the toothed-P wheels 18 on the shaft and thetherewith engaging pawls 19. The engine or motor 8 is now actuated toimpart a rotary movement to the supporting element 11 and the therewithconnected column 16, which move-' ment is transposed into an upwardmotion of the cage by means of the nut 14, the sleeve 35 on which hasbeen moved into an extreme position to release the detent which normallyengaged the downwardly winding. spiral groove from contact therewith.

The movement of the engine is transmitted to the element 11 and thetherewith connected mast 6 through the instrumentality of a bevel gear12 which being revolubly mounted in a bearing 12 on the deck of thecarriage 5, meshes with the gear 12 and *hose shaft carries a sprocketwheel 12 which connects with a similar wheel 8 on the engine shaft bymeans of a chain 8 While the cage is moving along the column, thesection 26 which is held against rotation by the dogs 56 of the element54:, emerges from the column, by action of the spiral rib 21, at a rateof speed equal to that of the cage until arrested by the dogs 24projecting into the annular groove 23, when the dogs 56 pass from thegrooves 28 in the one section, into the grooves on the protruding upperextremity of the next section 26 to hold the latter against rotationwhile the section 26 rotates with the column 16, to further elevate thecage. This operation is continued until the desired elevation has beenreached or the shaft has been extended to its full height, when the cageis stopped by placing the sleeve in its central position on the nut. Tosubsequently lower the cage and simultaneously return the varioussections to their original contracted positions, the element 11 isrotated in opposite direction by reversing the engine 8.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is:

1. A device of the class named comprising in combination, a rotary mastincluding a plurality of telescoping sections each having a peripheralspiral groove and an internal projection engaging the groove in the nextsmaller section, a carrier, means to impel the in a recumbent positionupon the latter along the said mast and means to hold the sectionadjoining that along which the carrier moves, against rotation.

2. A device of the class named comprising in combination a revolublemast composed of a plurality of telescoping sections each having -aperipheral, spiral groove, a carrier, a member supporting the latter, ade tent associated with the said member to engage the said groovesconsecutively and means to cause the sections to consecutively movelongitudinally in advance of and in unison with the carrier.

3. A device of the class named comprising in combination, a revolublemast composed of a plurality of telescoping sections each havingperipheral grooves winding spirally in opposite directions. a carrier, amember supporting the latter, detents associated with He said member andnormally engaging the said grooves consecutively. means to withdraweither of the said de ents "from contact with its respective groove andto simultaneously lock the said member against rotation and means tocause the sections to consecutively move longitudinally in advance ofand in unison with the carrier.

at. A device of the class named comprisin in combination, a revolublemast composed of a plurality of telescoping sections each having aperipheral spiral groove and an internal projection engaging the groovein the adjoining section, a carrier, a member associated with the latterand having a detent projecting into tlfi said grooves consecutively,means to hold the section in advance of that engaged by the said detent,against rotation and means to limit the longitudinal movement of eachsection.

5. A device of the class named comprising in combination, a revolublemast composed of a plurality or" telescoping sections each havingperipheral spiral and longitudinal grooves, and an internal projectionengaging the spiral groove in the adjoining section, a carrier, a membersupporting the latter and having a detent adapted to engage the spiralgrooves consecutively. and an element having dogs engaging longitudinalgrooves of the member immediately above that engaged by the detent, thesaid element being adapted to move in unison with the carrier.

6. A device of the class named comprising in combination, a revolublemast composed of a plurality of telescoping sections each having aperipheral spiral groove, a carrier, a member supporting the latter andhaving a detent adapted to engage the spiral grooves consecutively,i'lexible members connected with the carrier, in engagement with theinnermost section of the mast, tension devices operatively associatedwith the said flexible members, and means carried by the latter andadapted to hold the section iml I i t l l I l l i I l tive to the mast,by

mediately above that engaged by the detent against rotation.

7. A device of the class named comprising in combination, a revolublemast composed of telescoping sections each having peripheral spiral andlongitudinal grooves and an internal projection engaging the spiralgroove in the next smaller section, a carrier, a member supporting thelatter and having a detent adapted to engage the spiral grooves,flexible members connected with the carrier in engagement with theinnermost section. tension devices operatively associated with the saidflexible members and an element carried by the latter and having membersadapted to engage the longitudinal grooves in the section immediately inadvance of that engaged by the detent.

S. A device of the class named comprising in combination a mast composedof telescoping sections, a carrier, means to impel the latter along thesaid mast, and adjustable members associated with the said carrier toengage the peripheral surface of the various sections so as to securethe cage against lat eral deflection.

9. A device of the class named comprising in combination, a revolublemast composed of telescoping sections each having a peripheral, spiralgroove, a carrier, a nut encircling the mast. connected with thecarrier, :1 detent resiliently connected with the said nut and adaptedto engage the spiral grooves in the various sections irrespective of thelatters diametrical dimension.

10. A device of the class named comprising in combination, a revolublemast composed of telescoping sections each having a peripheral, spiralgroove, a carrier, a nut encircling the mast, connected with thecarrier, a piston resiliently connected with the said nut, a memberhaving a limited movement upon the nut and adapted to retainingly engagethe said piston and a detent longitudinally movable in the said pistonand adapted to engage the grooves in the various sections.

11. A device of the class named comprising a rotatable mast, a carrier.and means cooperative with means on said mast whereby the carrier isimpelled longitudinally relatze latters rotative movement.

12. A device of the class named comprising a rotatable mast composed oftelescoping sections and a carrier longitudinally movable in relationthereto, said sections having cooperative means whereby the rotativemotion of each one is transposed into a longitudinal movement of theadjoining one.

13. A device of the class named comprising a rotatable mast composed oftelescoping sections provided with cooperative means whereby therotative motion of each one is transposed into a longitudinal movementof the adjoining one, and a carrier adapted to engaged by the carrier,to move longitudimove with said sections in the direction of naily inrelation thereto. 10

their longitudinal movement. In testimony whereof I have affixed my 14.A device of the class named comprissignature in presence of twowitnesses.

ing in combination, a mast composed of tele- BENJAMIN F. SEYMOUR.

scoping sections, a carrier, means to impel 'Witnesses:

the latter along the mast and means to si- G. J. ROLLANDET,

multaneously cause the section, next to that K. M. STUMP.

